Seven Open Doors
by ElusiveEvan
Summary: At the beginning of this, Harry balances the role of savior with another important role, Dad, to none other than himself. Add in a relationship with his new neighbor, a power hungry Headmistress, and new animal friends in the lives of Harry and Remus.
1. Prologue: A journey of a thousand miles

**Disclaimer: Own Harry Potter I do not. **

* * *

The darkness spilled in from every single faucet of his mind, a determination to get on with the dark, horrid task that lay before him. As Harry James Potter stood in front of the front door of Number Four Privet Drive, the old grandfather clock began to chime.

1

Harry looked at his trunk, packed by muggle means and waiting to be shrunk and pocketed.

2

His father's old cloak lay folded atop it and the crumpled-up note written by Dumbledore so many years ago, the one that had come with the cloak was even now in Harry's pocket.

3

4

5

He waved Hedwig back into her cage and gave her a stroke.

6

7

8

The stack of papers that had arrived that very morning that were from a man who says he was Dumbledore's brother were in his pocket to be looked over when he got away from this horrid place.

9

10

11

Harry's heart beat faster, his determination waned as he thought of the horrible journey ahead of him, that he alone would complete, that he alone must undertake without any help whatsoever from his mentor or his friends. He had no choice. Voldemort had to be stopped.

12.

Harry James Potter threw open the door to Privet Drive and closed his eyes, giving a roar to inspire himself. "It begins!"

This was made all the more embarrassing and out of place when he opened his eyes to find himself face to face with none other than Minerva McGonagall, and she was **far** from alone.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. **

* * *

"I should have expected it, honestly," Minerva said a moment later. "Mr. Weasley and Ms. Grainger thought you would attempt to take off at the very stroke of midnight." Harry was paying not attention to her or her words or mothering tone. He was only looking at the child hiding behind her legs. "Well, are you going to keep us out here all night or let us in Potter?"

His mouth gaping wide, Harry stepped aside. As McGonagall entered, the boy she had with her tried and failed to hide himself from Harry's gaze, and Harry only grew more confused. The boy at her side had to be only six years old, with jet black hair and piercing emerald eyes full of fear and nerves and there, above his left eye was something Harry knew very well, something that had caused so much strife and pain in his short but erudite life. Such an insignificant, yet powerful thing it was, and it was nothing more than a small, lightning shaped scar.

"Bloody hell," Harry said before he could stop himself. Nerves told him to draw his wand and he did it immediately, the sudden movement shocked McGonagall into taking a step back, and sent the boy running back far behind her. "Who are you?" He asked McGonagall quickly.

The boy, sensing Harry's rage and confusion, backed away and looked very quickly for a place to hide, and finding a cupboard under the stairs, opened it and entered. Neither Harry nor McGonagall heard the boy's whimper of fear. "Mr. Potter," McGonagall called, loudly.

"Who are you?" He asked again, angrily. What he had just seen didn't make any sense and thus couldn't be real; it had to be Death Eaters confusing him. Harry moved back away from the woman, and flexed his wand, freeing Hedwig from her cage. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the old note from Dumbledore and brought his wand to the back of it, preparing to use a spell Hermione had taught him to write a very small, quick message calling for help.

"Hedwig does not need to make a delivery right now, calm down, Harry." This stopped Harry. There was no reason a Death Eater would know the owl's name. The woman caught sight of the front of the note, and Harry saw realization hit her face, and was relaxed as she **quickly **used the note as further evidence of who she was. "That note, it was from Albus, he wanted to give you your father's old cloak, I told him I didn't know if it was a good idea, but didn't put up a fight… at the time you were my answered prayer, we hadn't won the cup for years, and you were our star seeker."

Harry looked her dead in the eye, and relaxed. He crumpled the note in his hand, and realized that the mere mention of Dumbledore had hurt. He also realized, however, that there was no doubt she was telling the truth about her identity. That still left the question of who the child was that she had with her. Harry waved his wand, slamming the door shut, and then turned to look around for the kid.

"Where is he?" McGonagall asked, looking worried. "You terrified him," she said, rather accusingly but then she relaxed. "I guess I cannot blame you for being cautious, but let's look for the boy."

"Who is he?" Harry asked, without moving.

"You, mostly." Harry looked at her, very confused.

"And how is that possible?"

"Questions later, now we've got to find the boy, he's lost, scared and so far away from where he's lived his whole life." A second of silence passed and Harry relaxed enough to turn his back on her and begin looking about the room. As he walked toward the kitchen he distinctly heard a sob. Professor McGonagall turned toward the closet door a foot behind her, but Harry didn't. He knew where the child was.

She had said that the kid was him. What did that mean? No matter what was going on, he had obviously scared the kid, and Harry was thusly worried, and even more so when he realized the position of the child. Harry crouched down and reached out, opening the door to his old room, the cupboard beneath the stairs. There was something depressing about what he saw. The boy who looked just like Harry when he was younger was backed into the far corner of the cupboard, looking at the elder with fear. As he met the boy's eyes, he saw that the child wore glasses as well; though they were nothing like his own though, much smaller and perhaps a lot better looking than the thick rims he had.

Calming himself, he reached out a hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Come out of there. I've spent too many years of my life in there to see anyone else in there." _Especially someone who looks so much like me. _"Look, here," he reached into his pocket, and drew his wand back out, and the child instinctively flinched. Harry threw the wand into the cupboard, within reach of the younger boy. "Take it until you get out that way you know I don't have it and can't do anything."

When the smaller boy had scooped up the wand, Harry held his hand out to him again, and this time the boy took it tentatively. Harry pulled him out of the cupboard and to his feet. A silent rage was building up inside of him at the image of the child huddling in the cupboard, and when the boy handed him his wand back, Harry slammed the door shut and said, "**_Colloportus_**_." _The boy didn't flinch, it suggested to Harry that he knew the spell's effect. There was a squelching sound as the wall met with the edges of the door. "There, now no one can get locked in there again."

When Harry looked up, the boy rushed past him back to McGonagall's side, as she looked Harry in the eyes with a look of sadness. "I'm sorry, I lost control, both before and after the thing with the cupboard. It's just, seeing him in there hurt, they locked me up in there a lot for years until I got my letter, that was my bedroom. And he looks so much like me… it just…. Who is he?"

The boy had relaxed only a little and looked up at McGonagall. "He's you. Let's all sit down, and then I'll explain."

Once back in the sitting room, Harry summoned a glass from the kitchen and filled it with a stream of water from his wand, then held it out to the young boy. As Harry watched the boy take it from him, he realized that he had been crying inside of the cupboard, perhaps in fear. "I'm sorry," he said to the kid again, and then sat down on the chair opposite the couch the other two sat on.

"Harry, we all know… we all knew Albus Dumbledore was amazing… but it was how much that we didn't know. I have to apologize to you Harry, I did something I probably shouldn't have. I read one of the many journals Albus was keeping as his death was approaching. He has discovered some very amazing things."

"Why would you need to apologize to me about that?"

"Technically, they as all of his other things are, are yours."

"Oh," he said, sadly and softly.

"He's found other universes, Harry, other worlds."

This piqued Harry's attention. "Seven. The boy you see here is from one of them. This, is Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived."


	3. Chapter 2

"He developed a way to see into them when he accidentally caught a glimpse of one while gazing into Hogwarts Lake and attempting many spells (and creating many, mind you) to see what was happening many miles away. There are seven as far as he could tell, and he had a strong friendship with himself from one particular one. In that world your life's timeline differed from our world's greatly. Your parents, still died when you were one."

Harry, still contemplating this, was filled with grief and pity for the child next to the Headmistress of Hogwarts. "However, after that it gets interesting. While on the way to work one day, your uncle Vernon was hit by a passing car, so naturally you could not be sent to a household where there was no income whatsoever. You instead were sent to live with your Godfather, Sirius Black and your parents' friend Remus Lupin." Harry's eyebrow shot upward. "Yes Harry, Sirius was a free man in that world, but Voldemort had not lost his powers. Your mother's protection did not take effect in that world because he did not attempt to kill you for the mere reason that Sirius stopped him."

Harry looked once more at the child who was clearly holding back tears. "Of course… there was a catch," Harry said, sure of the answer. "There must've been."

"Yes, there was a catch. Two years ago for him, Remus and Sirius were murdered by Lord Voldemort in an apothecary. His accidental magic threw Voldemort back into a cauldron of the Draught of the Living Dead. While he was unconscious, the magic set fire to him and the liquid of the draught itself. Voldemort of that world died. However… there is yet another catch. In his place rose two new Dark Lords who are working together to conquer that world. After two years of living with the Dumbledore of that world, he was sent here as part of an agreement that should that Dumbledore die, ours would take care of him. Unfortunately, ours had died too."

"How did he die, that Dumbledore?" Harry looked on with sympathy at the younger version of himself as the boy suffered. He had to know though.

"He had cancer, Harry, and the Wizarding equivalent of chemotherapy weakened him greatly, and then the Dark Lord Malfoy," Harry leaned forward, anger evident on his face quickly, and much to his shock, he saw that the younger boy flinched, so he calmed down. "and his partner attacked Hogwarts, and his partner, the other Dark Lord, killed Albus."

"Whoever he is, I bet I know him, you keep avoiding his name worse than someone who is trying to allude to Voldemort."

Minerva closed her eyes. "They called him the Dark Lord Snape." Harry's upper lip curled and this time not even the look of fear on the young boy's face could quail the anger that rose.

"That filthy **traitor**.****In **both **worlds he's a traitor." Harry sat in relative silence for a moment contemplating his rage. "Then… send me over there, let me take care of Malfoy and Snape!" Professor McGonagall looked as if she wouldn't have anticipated that particular response in a million years.

"The other Dumbledore only had one portkey made strong enough to move someone from one universe to another. There's no way to send you, and Harry, you have enough to deal with here. Look, I brought him here, so that you could understand. You can win." Harry closed his eyes and looked at the kid. "We're going to look for a place for him to live," McGonagall said.

"The Weasleys," Harry replied. That was the very best place he could think to send the kid, sure they were so low on money, but that was nothing, he would much rather have had no money whatsoever and live with the Weasleys than the life he'd had. Nowhere but Hogwarts would be safer for him either. Or would it? "Or," an idea had just come to him.

"Or what, Harry?"

"I'm an adult now," he stated simply.

McGonagall looked truly shocked once more, and looked between the two Harrys. "Merlin's beard, Potter, you're still in school."

"No, I'm not. I'm not going back. I'm going to begin to take care of Voldemort."

"And you think that's a safe life for him?" The elder version of Harry looked down at his counterpart contemplatively. Very suddenly it was important to him—now that he understood that this boy was in essence he himself—that he take care of the kid. It was—he realized—more important to him, perhaps than hunting down the Horcruxes.

"What… what about this; I'll go back to Hogwarts this year, if I'm allowed to take care of him, provided he wants it at all." What was really making him do this? Pity? Curiosity? Either way, it became apparent to him that the boy would be in danger if not kept safe. A mental image of the boy sinking back into the corner of the cupboard stuck in his head.

"What do you say?" Harry asked the child. The boy looked up at him, his eyes still showing nerves, and a little fear, but yet he still nodded an agreement.

The Headmistress looked from Harry to Harry, and bit her lip. "How would we explain it?"

Harry was shocked that he came up with the idea that came to mind. "Last year, Snape got some of my blood on his robes. Voldemort used this to create a clone of me, and then used an aging potion on him, and then the Order rescued him."

"And how would we explain the scar?" The boy looked between the two, perhaps a bit lost but also interested in what was going on.

"Voldemort punished him one day; it's just a handmade scar." Now the younger Harry caught on.

"A lie," the boy said, suddenly. The elder Harry reacted only a little. This was the first time he had heard his counterpart speak.

"Yes, but a lie to protect you, and both of our Dumbledore's. Would… would it be alright, could you live with that?" The boy nodded for a moment. "I'm sorry I scared you earlier. I was… afraid." The elder Harry reached his hand out for a high-five and the smaller completed the gesture.

"Professor, this is important to me," Harry said to the Headmistress.

"And you're sure you want to?" she asked the boy.

He nodded, shyly.

Harry looked at the younger and gave a soft nod. "I want you to know," he said, seriously as he closed Hedwig's cage and then shrunk his trunk and broomstick and shoved these in his pocket wrapped in his cloak. "Things are dangerous here, because your Dark Lords are still serving Voldemort here, and he's probably stronger now than he was when he died in your world. I also want you to know, I offered to take care of you because I want to do that, I want to take care of you and I want to give you a good life, alright?"

McGonagall looked on, perhaps a bit apprehensively. "If I decide next year to go off and try to take care of Voldemort… I'll make sure you have someone good to stay with, and then I'll be right back for you. You and I are in life together," Harry definitely wondered where all this was coming from, but it felt right.

"Harry, since you're not leaving us, then let's go to Grimmauld place. All of Dumbledore's, Sirius' and some things of your parents, are there waiting on you. And there's a couple other things too, but that can wait until we're there." A very uncomfortable episode of side-along apparition followed, as the bigger Harry instinctively kept a hold on the smaller as well as Hedwig's cage. They came out in the street outside Number Twelve.

Harry made to go straight to the building but stopped and turned. "Oh, but he can't see it, how do we fix that?"

"I happen," she said, "to have one of the few remaining notes written by Albus Dumbledore about the secret." She drew it from her pocket and handed it to the boy. After a few moments of him reading silently, she retrieved it. "Now, can you see it?"

"I can," the boy said, shyly.

"Before we go in, I need to talk to both of you about something. To you," she looked at the younger boy. "Remus Lupin is alive here."

Harry watched the younger's face light up in glee. "Really?" Harry liked seeing that smile.

"For you," she said to the elder Harry, "Remus has a pet. He is a dog, who looks much like Sirius in dog form. There's one other animal in there, but he is yours, or at least I assume that is why he is back."

"What animal?" Elder Harry asked.

"Fawkes the Phoenix." His stomach dropped at another connection to his former Headmaster, but if Fawkes was here… that would suggest that he was here for Harry like she said, right?

"As you are now of age, you inherit everything Dumbledore, Sirius and your parents owned, including Grimmauld Place, Potter Manor, and your parent's hiding place in Godric's Hollow which has been restored for you after the night Voldemort attacked, and lastly, Albus' old home. Albus has arranged for you to inherit one more thing that is not in there or in any of those homes. Dobby, a house elf in employ of Hogwarts, will—along with Kreacher—come to help you set up the homes, and move furniture and other things around amongst the homes, or seal them up. You can get into Potter Manor and the Godric's Hollow home only if you have Potter blood, but to get into Albus' home, you will have to speak a password, which is contained in this letter." She reached into her robe pocket and pulled out an envelope.

"This envelope has the deeds to all the aforementioned buildings that you own now, as well as the letter. Now, with that said, let's go inside. Remus is waiting to see you both." Harry wondered how the werewolf would react to the smaller boy, or to Harry taking responsibility for him. And then of course he wondered about the many things he had just inherited. Almost immediately he decided that he should go to all of them, gather up all of the furniture and move it all into Potter Manor. It was his ancestral home, after all. Perhaps he would find more about his parents at their old home.

Harry shook his head hard. He couldn't take time to think right now, he had to act. He walked right up the steps to the door and threw it open. "Come on, Harry," he said to the younger. "Let's go see Remus." Harry let his younger self in in front of him and then entered, McGonagall in between them. "Remus," the elder Harry called.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**

* * *

"In the Kitchen." Harry opened the kitchen doors, and the younger boy inched in shyly. Remus sat at the table, and Harry saw that this summer had been unkind to him. He was much skinnier and had darker circles under his eyes than had been there last time Harry had seen him. "Ah, hello." Remus looked down upon the small boy with a soft smile. "I've heard a lot about _you." _

Shyly the kid nodded, and then Harry saw the younger's look of confusion. Following his instincts, he pat the boy on his shoulder and very lightly nudged him forward toward Remus who was offering his hand for a handshake. The boy would have none of it, and instead ran up to him and grabbed the man in a hug that was sort of heart wrenching. After a moment of shock Remus returned it. It seems McGonagall had told Remus of the boy's prior life.

"Harry, look out," Remus said. Harry, taking it as a warning, drew his wand and turned. A moment later he was knocked down by and pinned beneath a large, shaggy black dog which set about licking his face jovially. As soon as Remus had wrestled the dog off of him, the elder Harry sat up, and retrieved his wand from where it had rolled. Harry was of course now able to get a look at the dog. It was in essence, the exact twin of the dog form of Sirius. This too hurt just a little. The smaller Harry reached out and laid his hand on the dog's head. Then another thought came into his mind. "Fawkes is here, where?"

Remus stood up and pointed down the hall. "In your old room, come on." With Remus and the smaller Harry in the lead. Sitting on the floor was one tiny box. Atop it sat the Phoenix's perch which he sat on. "In that box is everything of Dumbledore's from his office or Headquarters, shrunk down of course. I also put in everything of Sirius' and your parents' that I could get hold of."

"Th-thank you Remus," Harry replied, gratefully. Then he turned to focus attention on the Phoenix. As his green eyes met with the bird's black, he felt something pass between them. Almost immediately he knew something was different. As he contemplated the new feeling within him, a wise old voice spoke in his mind, and it surely wasn't his. It was, in fact, Dumbledore's.

**Hello, Harry.**

Harry Potter dropped to a sitting position on the ground.

"P-Professor?" Harry asked, aloud.

**No, **the voice said, **I merely am heard in the voice of the person who my master considers the wisest person they knew, if I took on the voice of my old Master, it is because that is the voice you gave me, and you know, the point of a telepathic link is so that you do not always have to speak to me out loud. **

Harry looked up; "He sounds… just like _him._" Harry looked the bird in the eye once more. It lifted from its perch and flew to Harry's leg, touching its beak to his arm. Harry at once recognized it as the spot where the basilisk fang had penetrated his skin when he was younger, and knew Fawkes was reminding him that he was a trustworthy friend.

_**I'm glad you chose me, Fawkes. **_

**As am I. **

The similarity to Dumbledore's voice made him close his eyes for a moment and focus on controlling his tears. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was not McGonagall, nor Remus. It was his younger self. The boy, in his own grief was very concerned. Fawkes now paid attention to his new master's counterpart, commenting telepathically to Harry on his resemblance with the boy, and then telling Harry that he had seen Dumbledore speaking with his many counterparts before, and sending Harry an image of a dark room with six basins on a large table in it.

Harry climbed back to his feet as Fawkes rose into the air. Harry picked up the box containing several of the possessions that he had inherited that day. **Shall we go now, and see your new homes? **The bird turned, offering his tail to Harry. "He's telling me to go, and see the houses."

"I'm going too," Remus said.

"Well, if you're going to live with me, you're coming too," Harry said, putting his own hand on the younger's shoulder.

"Wait," the werewolf said, suddenly. "What?"

"Harry, ah, I mean the older Harry, has decided-"

"He's going to live with me, right little guy?" There, there was a term he could use for the boy so as not to feel too odd about talking to (in essence) himself. The boy nodded up at him, not so shyly anymore.

"I see, Harry, have you thought this through?"

"Yes." That was a lie; it had been a spur of the moment decision, but one he seriously doubted he'd ever regret.

"Alright, you first Remus, I think he wants to take us there."

Remus reached up, took hold of Fawkes' tail feathers, and closed his eyes, unlike Harry, he had experienced the process of being transported to a different position with the Phoenix' ability to disappear in a flash of flame. Harry seized the man's hand, then with his right grasped the young boy's hand tightly. "Close your eyes, both of you." The boy did as Remus bid, but Harry didn't for the reason that Fawkes was speaking to him and clearly telling him that it wouldn't hurt his eyes, and that Remus was a bit of a wimp when it came to eyesight.

With a smirk at the bird's wording he turned to the Headmistress. "See you, Professor." A flash of orange came all at once, and then Harry was weightless. Fire roared around him, making shapes he dimly recognized as stars and moons, until he was met with the night once more. **We're here. **

Harry opened his eyes as they were lowered to the ground. Though he released Remus and though the child's eyes were open, the younger Harry kept hold on his older counterpart's hand, and Harry gripped reassuringly back. The house he was looking at was small and—surprisingly—familiar.

"Is this Potter Manor?" Harry asked Remus.

"No, much as you'd expect, Potter Manor is larger. It's the only thing about James that ever spoke of how big and powerful of a family he was from. Your grandfather had a spot on the Wizengamot even. James took it over after he died, but now that James is gone, it's just kind of empty, much like Sirius' spot."

"They had spots on the Wizengamot?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Yes, they did, but Sirius spot is probably voided as he was the last living member of the family and a convicted murderer. If you were to ever claim it, James' spot would be yours, so long as no one objected to you joining the Wizengamot."

"For now, I'd like to know where we are…"

"This is where it happened," the little boy attached to Harry's hand said. "This is where he attacked."

"This is Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked.

"Uncle Remus showed it to me before… before…." Harry took a moment to contemplate what to do. The kid was obviously distraught, and who else but he really knew how he was feeling? Harry crouched, threw an arm around the boy and pulled him awkwardly into a comforting hug. He'd never been hugged like this until Mrs. Weasley came around, so he hoped he could transmit the feeling of safety he had received more than once from her to this boy.

"Do you want to go in?" he asked the boy. The boy shook his head violently. "It's alright," Harry said worriedly, comforting the boy. "You don't have to." When he relaxed, Harry let his counterpart go.

"I need to, to just go ahead and clear everything out of there. Will you be okay with Remus here for a moment?" Harry saw his counterpart match eyes with him, and clearly saw the boy's distress and sadness. The boy let go of his hand only after Harry assured him he'd hurry back. Fawkes touched the younger Harry's shoulder with his wing before the elder stood.

With Fawkes on his own shoulder, the elder Harry pulled the box from his pocket, resized it again, and opened it. The miniaturized versions of many different objects filled the box to the top. "Looks like this is full," Harry said. "I'll have to carry whatever in my pocket then." He closed the box, shrunk it back down, and pocketed it. He gave a brief wave to Remus and his new charge and walked to the gate of the white picket fence that surrounded the yard.

As he walked up the steps Harry became aware of memories. **You being here is jogging your memory.**

_**I was too young last time I was here… how do I remember it?**_

**You're just that special, I guess. **

Harry smirked, but despite that smirk, he began to get apprehensive.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. **

* * *

Almost ten minutes after Remus and the younger Harry saw the elder enter the house at Godric's Hollow, there came a loud, horrible scream. Remus and the boy were on their feet and running into the house at once. Remus was running out of worry for Harry, and the boy was running for the same reason as well as not wanting to be left alone. They entered the home to find a large box sitting in the sitting room, full of shrunken books, bookshelves and furniture, mattresses, glasses, etc etc. All the rooms seemed to be empty but one. 

The Harry Potter that originated in that world was on his knees in front of a small white crib in the room with him, the last remaining piece of furniture in the house. The elder Harry was clutching his eyes shut.

_He was only able to see the fabric of his mother's shirt. A horrible high-pitched voice was laughing. Then the laughter stopped. It vehemently yelled for his mother to move aside, and allow him to be killed. He felt himself lowered down into his crib, but his mother did not move. All at once there was a great swirling green light, and his mother fell out of his line of sight. _

_The tall, thin man raised his wand to level with Harry's head. "Die," it said simply and commandingly. Harry watched another green light shoot from the man's wand, but as it came near him, it stopped, and then turned, rebounding on the man, shattering into many pieces and hitting the walls, setting fire. There was screaming. _

And it was his. Harry came to, and found himself on his knees on the lush carpeting of what had once been his own bedroom. He saw Remus and his younger counterpart and on instinct reached for the crying boy. They were one, and had both experienced horrible things. They'd both watched their mother die, for one thing. "I'm going to take care of you from now on, alright?" He said to the boy, "Don't you worry."

Besides, he could be as good as any parent, right?

No matter how emotionally stunted his life might have been years ago, he was much better now. But was he good enough now to raise someone, to give this kid a life he himself had never had or when he was younger dreamt he even deserved? The answer to that, Harry decided, was simple. He had to be.

**Harry, rise, it's alright. **

Harry stroked Fawkes' neck as he perched on his younger counterpart's shoulder. Finally rising to his feet, Harry saw Remus point his wand toward the bed. "No, leave it, please. It stays with the house."

As Remus pat him on the shoulder, Harry whispered. "I remember them, Remus, I remember my parents." When Remus saw the smile that bloomed on Harry's face he was put much at ease and his earlier worry about Harry deciding to take care of the boy evaporated. Harry would be an excellent father-figure. There were several moments of silence as Harry and his young charge merely stood there in the middle of the room, as Remus back from them. "Alright… come on little guy, let's go to Potter Manor, eh?"

"Where are you going to stay tonight, you both look exhausted."

"I've inherited Dumbledore's old house… I kind of think I want to give a try to living there… and so… maybe we should sleep there tonight. Is that alright?" The boy nodded to his new guardian.

"I was there, before he died…."

"So you've seen it then?" Harry asked the boy. "I see, well, how about this. Let's leave everything at Potter Manor alone for tonight. You look tired."

"Should I go with you?" Remus asked him. Harry contemplated quickly. He would just have to set up a bedroom for himself and the little guy, or at least the latter, he himself could sleep anywhere, and he happened to have a large queen sized bed shrunken and in the box under his arm (which was also shrunken.)

"Nah. We'll be fine."

"There's one more thing… As soon as Dobby finishes up at Hogwarts, he'll definitely go to whatever house you're living in. He works for you now." Harry grinned.

"Thanks for the warning." Remus dissapparated after a goodbye to the little Harry, and another to the elder. Harry looked at the boy beside him.

"Do you want to go and try to sleep?" The boy nodded.

"I don't think I can though," he said. Harry smirked at his counterpart.

"Me either, let's set up your bedroom there and then see. Oh, and one more thin; Happy Birthday, kid." The boy smiled at him.

"You too." Harry looked over at Fawkes, who had been—for the most part—silent as he watched the two.

**_Could you take me to the place?_ **

**Of course, hatchling. **

_Hatchling, _Harry thought with a sort of ironic smile. He reached out with his right hand and when his charge took it, he latched onto Fawkes' tail. "Try keeping your eyes open, it'll be all right." Lo and behold, the boy trusted him enough to listen to this, and Harry heard his gasp of shock at the beauty around them.

"It's pretty," the boy said. All at once they emerged into the morning and Harry repeated that phrase himself. Albus Dumbledore's old house was absolutely beautiful. It was averaged size on the outside, but Harry believed that inside the rooms were probably a bit larger due to Wizard Space. It was painted a beautiful shade of blue that were sadly hidden under thick layers of dirt, and the doors were large and wooden with and a broken knocker on either of them. All of the windows They had landed inside the gate which was tall, black and metal, and in front of the gate was a tall statue of a lion missing its head. There were rosebushes around it that looked as if they hadn't been tended to since Dumbledore had died.

Harry reached out for the knocker, but his hand stopped an inch away from it, like he had hit a solid glass wall. He was reminded forcefully of how neither he nor Dumbledore had been able to touch the liquid in the basin until Dumbledore had resigned himself to the fact that the eerie emerald liquid inside of it had to be drunk. He gulped, gripping the boy's hand tightly. "P-Professor McGonagall said you had to say a password."

Harry looked down at the boy and sighed. "Thanks, I forgot." After he handed the shrunken box full of shrunken furniture to his new charge, he reached into his pocket and fished out the letter. He unrolled it and read, he skimmed the letter, not wanting to read it right out there in the open. At the bottom he saw a P.S..

"The password to access your new home is White Hat." There was a sudden flash of light that surrounded the whole grounds of the building. Both Harry's gasped as everything changed. The beautiful blue house was suddenly clean, the windows were fixed, the gate black but clean, the statue of the lion and the knockers were fixed as well. The grass was cut shorter, and the rose bushes suddenly looked a lot better.

The sound of a door opening made Harry turn. Around ten meters away was the next house, and outside of it stood a tall, black haired wizard. "Well, who's this then?" Harry, mindful that no one else knew about the smaller boy, stepped in front of him, putting him out of the man's line of view.

"I'm Harry Potter, sir. Professor Dumbledore gave me this house."

"Well, I gathered the last part, if the real owner hadn't shown up, the house would still look run down. My wife will be glad it's been claimed, between me and you. But, Harry Potter? It's very nice to meet you!"

Harry looked down and muttered, "Okay little man, run up those stairs and out of sight." The boy nodded up at him, and dashed. "He's helping me move in," Harry explained when the man raised an eyebrow.

"So you're moving in then? That's great, we'll be glad to have a neighbour," the man said. "I'd shake your hand but mine's covered in filth, I'm cleaning out my attic. Well, anyway, it was nice meeting you. My name is Naman Patil, I think you know my daughters."

Harry gulped again and nodded, despite them being members of the D.A. his track record with one of the Patil twins hadn't been all that perfect, and yet they were about to be neighbours? "Here, they'll be happy to get out of working in the attic." The man leaned into the doorway of his house and called, "Girls! Will you two come help our new neighbour get settled in?" Padma or Parvati looked out of one window at their father, and Harry was looking for an out when she stepped out onto the porch and saw him. He knew it was Parvati because of her height; she had an inch on her twin sister, and thus was about his height.

"Harry," she exclaimed with a smile. Harry—to his surprise—felt a bit nervous under that smile. "Padma's busy, but I'd like to help!" She stepped down and over to the fence. "I can't believe you're moving into Professor Dumbledore's house, that's great." Harry smiled nervously, feeling tongue-tied. This strange combination of nerves made him forget completely about his counterpart as Parvati walked through the front gate. "And… is that Fawkes?"

Harry smiled and nodded dumbly. "Y-yes. He just came to me last night."

"Well, then let's go set up your house, alright, and then how about you come over for breakfast." Harry nodded once more. When he turned to walk to the doors, he was met with the sight of his new charge waiting for him, and then it hit him, just as she saw him. "Who is th-" Harry looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that her father was back inside and held up his hand.

--------------------------

Author's Notes:I appreciate all reviews... PLEASE!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

* * *

"When we get inside," he said, a bit harshly. Then he turned back and walked up to the door. "Remember the story Professor McGonagall made up, okay?" he whispered to the boy who nodded in return. "Alright, let's go." He grasped the doorknob and turned, opening the large wooden door outward. He was met with a beautiful hall that had a set of stairs going up to the upper level. He looked to the right and saw a room with a table and chairs, and to the left and saw a sitting room with two chairs and a couch. "Looks like he left all his furniture," he said.

When Parvati—with a curious look at the young boy—finally entered behind the two of them, Harry closed the doors and locked them with two locking spells. "Let's sit down, I'll explain Parvati." He led the two of them to the left and sat in the closest chair, motioning to the couch. The boy sat down on one end of the couch and Harry motioned to the seat at the other end for her.

She dusted off her shirt, and sat down, blatantly staring at the boy in confusion. "Alright, look, since you were in the D.A. I know I can trust you to silence. You **cannot **tell anyone yet. We'll tell everyone soon, but not yet. Last year, when Professor Dumbledore died, Snape got some of my blood on his robe, and Voldemort used that to make a clone of me. They used an aging potion on him, to get him to around six so they could train him to kill me." The girl looked absolutely horrified. "They were pretty bad to him, but some Auror's rescued him. I'm taking care of him now."

"But he's got the scar too, just like you," she said, pointing to it. The boy looked down.

"Voldemort made that one with a knife," Harry said, sounding as sombre as he could while he kept up the lie. The boy sat there, doing his best to look sad as well. "It was a punishment for something, I don't know what though. I'm going to take care of Harry from now on though."

"That's horrible, poor thing," she reached over and smoothed back the boy's hair. "He's such a little cutie." The boy turned red and shook his head, Harry only laughed. It was a funny thing to see, really. "Well…" she said after a few moments of silence. "Then let's go look around."

The house, they soon discovered, was well furnished except for three rooms. Two of them were completely empty and one only held one table. This table had six familiar stone basins in it, and when he opened the door he had quickly shut it, proclaiming it was empty. **_I found the room, _**he sent to Fawkes who was resting in the sitting room with the younger Harry.

"So we've got two bedrooms, one for you and one for the… little you, and then the study, library, sitting room and kitchen, and three empty rooms. Want me to help you set up the rooms?" In all honesty, he knew he could and probably should have done it himself, but for some reason he was really enjoying her company. He'd been incredibly lonely.

"Sure, if you don't mind, that is, I'd like it."

**Calm down, Hatchling, **the bird sent, sensing his quickening heartbeat.

**_Thanks, _**he sent back to the bird, seriously.

Parvati giggled cutely at his obvious nerves and nodded, smiling. "I'll help. Let's go." He led her to the empty room next to the library.

"Most of one of my boxes is tables and books and bookshelves, so let's just use this room for that, like an extension of the library." As he had thought earlier, most of these rooms were gigantic, the library and this particular room especially. Harry sat down the box, and reached into his pocket, drawing out another shrunken box. He sat that one down in the middle of the room and waved his wand. Instead of using a _finite incantatem _charm, he merely used the engorgement charm, undoing the shrinking on the box, but not its contents.

He opened the box and both of them crouched to look inside of it. For just a moment as she crouched on the opposite side of the box Harry got a very good _look_ as the neck of her shirt came down a bit and turned red, looking away. "What's wrong? Harry, are you okay?"

"Nothing, it's just a little hot in here, I think," he lied quickly and then turned back to the box. He pulled out three shrunken bookshelves full of books. Harry stood and walked the length of the room to the back wall, where he sat down each of these shelves and resized them. When he stepped back to the box a moment later, still red in the face from the view he had gotten a moment ago, she was sitting Indian style on the ground, two shrunken tables and four chairs on the ground around her along with what looked to be a couple of portraits, but Harry couldn't see what they were of. Harry resized the tables and chairs then organized the room and stepped back.

Inside the box were several different tables and a bunch of smaller boxes full of what he assumed to be jewellery left to him from Sirius' family. They moved on to the other empty room where Harry resized everything in the remaining two boxes. There was an empty book case, which he set against a wall, and set on it many of the objects that had once been in Dumbledore's office. He noticed two missing things that he truly wanted; the ring that had once been a Horcrux and Gryffindor's sword. He was hoping Dumbledore had left these to him for safe keeping. Gryffindor's sword had to be kept safe especially since it might be possible that Voldemort would want it for himself. He left a space for the sword and ring on there, putting the jewellery boxes on the middle shelf. They had once been Sirius' after all.

When he turned back, he saw that Parvati was holding something out to him. "This fell out," she said, smiling. It was a necklace with a red ruby pendant on it. "It's beautiful," she commented, examining it. He didn't know what made the thought pop up, but there it came.

"It would look great on you, you keep it." He turned slightly red on realization of what he just said and so did she, to his further embarrassment.

"Oh, thank you, that's so sweet Harry. You're sweet." She pocketed the necklace, and much to his embarrassment pecked him on the cheek. This made him turn red again. "Maybe you should give this a break before you get sick, you look really warm." Harry shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, here, let me just finish this." He avoided looking her in the eyes so as to get himself back under control and put the many different trinkets on the shelves, grew the many different tables and chairs to the right size, and when he looked back into the box, he saw he had only one object left to unpack, it was a bed.

He pulled it out and sat it on the ground, then resized it, and shoved it into a corner. "Alright, so that's the last of it."

"Where did you get all of this?" Parvati asked when they sat down in the sitting room with little Harry.

"From my parents, Professor Dumbledore, or my Godfather… Sirius Black."

She looked him in the eye, as if analyzing him. "Sirius Black?"

"You heard they cleared him at the end of the summer of our fifth year, right? Well, he _was_ innocent. I found out. I proved it to Dumbledore, who helped him. Sirius was… Sirius was the closest thing I had to a father. I'll miss him." He felt her hand on his right arm.

"It's alright, Harry." He smiled at her softly.

"Thanks for all the help, Parvati…."

"Now, do you want to come over for breakfast?"

"I'm afraid he's got other plans, at least today." Harry turned, and to his shock saw Remus' head setting in the fire.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Harry Potter I own not. Like Yoda, speak in passive tense do I.

"Uncle Remus," the boy called, happily.

"Hello there, you two. The Weasleys want us for breakfast, Harry; perhaps it's best if you come, I'm sure Parvati would be very welcome as well." Harry looked over at her.

"Would you like to?"

"Sure, I'll go ask my father and get cleaned up," he showed her to the door, unlocked it and waved goodbye. When he returned to the sitting room, Remus had emerged from the fireplace.

"So, got a house guest already, Ms. Patil?"

"She lives next door and she came over to help me set up the house. That's all."

"Is it really?" Remus asked with a slightly suggestive tone in his voice. He even wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yes," Harry exclaimed, turning red.

"Ooooooh," chimed in his young charge, his green eyes aglow with mischief. "You like her, don't you?"

"I do _not." _

"Alright, alright. Leave him be, he's in love after all," Remus said to the boy, who laughed.

"Alright you two, I'm going to go get washed up and change clothes if you have nothing against it." However, judging by the hand Remus was holding up, he did.

"I brought you a house warming gift," he reached into his pocket and brought out a glass jar filled with a white powder. "Floo powder. Oh, and remember, there are two ways to use the floo to reach this house, say the address, or The Golden Lion. Dumbledore loved that name." Harry smiled, took the jar and put it on the mantle above the fireplace, then nodded. "Go get ready."

"Thanks, Remus."

He did his best to look respectable in his muggle clothing, but the shirt he wore was far too big for him, and—finally fed up with his looks—he shrunk the shirt a bit, making a note that he would finally get some decent clothing sometime soon. When he left the master bedroom of the home and returned to the sitting room, Parvati and his charge were sitting alone on the couch.

"Professor Lupin went ahead; he said you'd know how to get there." Harry nodded.

"You've travelled by floo before, I assume?" he asked his counterpart, who nodded. "Alright, are you two ready?" As he walked to the fireplace he saw that she wore the pendant from earlier around her neck. He smiled briefly at it, then threw some floo into the fireplace. "Everyone in." Fawkes shot from his spot on the couch to Harry's shoulder, and Parvati and little Harry crowded around him. "The Burrow!"

He closed his eyes tightly, and when the horrible spinning had stopped, he, little Harry, and Parvati stumbled out into the kitchen, Harry catching his smaller counterpart and his new neighbour under the arms. "Thanks Harry," Parvati said.

A moment later, Molly came rushing forward. "Oh and this is him, you poor thing," Harry laughed and watched as his counterpart was grabbed in a Molly Weasley hug. "I'm just so glad they rescued you from that monster. I'm sorry, my name is Molly Weasley, and you're always welcome here."

Harry smiled. "He's heard about you from Professor McGonagall, I think."

"And you," Molly said, rounding on him. "Minerva told me you were trying to take off without telling anyone! I'm just glad you didn't. She also told me you're going to take care of him now." As much as he hated this whole lying to Mrs. Weasley thing, he would go along with it.

"Yes, I am. We're living in Professor Dumbledore's old house, this is my neighbour, Parvati, she's in Ron and my's year in school." Molly offered her a handshake and then pat her on the shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you dear," she said, and then Harry noticed that every other Weasley (save for Percy) and Remus were all seated at the table, waiting for him. Ginny included. He could tell she was very uncomfortable with him there already. He didn't feel the best either. There was someone to her left though, that made Harry raise an eyebrow. Dean Thomas waved cheerily from over the plate in front of him at Harry. Bill and Fleur gave a cheerful raise of their glasses, and Harry remembered their wedding earlier that summer.

Harry motioned to three empty seats to the right of Remus and near the end of the table where Arthur sat. Little Harry sat by Remus, the older Harry nearest Arthur, and Parvati sat in the middle. "Hi Parvati, Harry." Dean said with a grin.

"Hello Dean, Ginny," she replied politely. "Thanks for breakfast Mrs. Weasley."

"Y-yeah, it looks great," Harry said. "Let me introduce everyone." Harry went about the table, introducing Weasleys for his young charge and when he pointed to Ron, the boy called out his name before Harry had a chance.

Catching his own mistake, the boy said; "You said he was taller than the twins, that's him right?" Harry wasn't at all convinced, nor had he actually described the Weasleys at all to the younger Harry. Remus caught on to it too, but didn't say anything. "It's nice to meet you all," the boy said, shyly.

Dinner was rather uneventful, they spent a lot of time talking about their summer holidays before Charlie launched into a story about his work in Romania, apparently seven dragons escaped their enclosure one night and he and a whole army of other workers had to go and round them all up. "Man, the guy responsible got fired, I kind of felt bad for him, but we warned him that Horntail was tricky."

When breakfast had ended and amid the scrambling to clean up, Harry pulled his younger counterpart aside while Dean and Parvati and Ginny talked. Remus followed them into the sitting room. "Do you know the Weasleys already?"

The boy looked down. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Last year Professor Dumbledore took me over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's house a lot, and Ron and Ginny were my friends. They all were except Percy, Fred and George. Percy's too bossy and Fred and George are mean to Ron sometimes…." Harry shook his head and patted the boy on the shoulder when he looked worried.

"It's alright, I just wondered is all," he said.

"Hmm, looks like our Dumbledore told his about your friendship with Ron and his family, and he thought it was a good idea." Harry gave Remus a nod.

"I guess so, we'll never know for sure."

"This is where you wandered off to, you lot." Ginny and Ron stood in the doorway. "What were you just talking about with Dumbledore? And in case you never planned on telling us, is that Fawkes?" Harry looked up at the bird on his shoulder with a smirk.

"We've got to tell them the truth Remus," Harry said, making his mind up. With a sigh, Remus agreed.

He looked Ginny in the eye, "You should know everything you've been told about him," Harry said, putting his hand back on the shoulder of the boy. "It's pretty much a lie." By the time he was done talking, Ron was utterly and completely flabbergasted.

"Dumbledore was amazing," Ginny said. All at once the uncomfortable feeling they'd had disappeared, and Harry wasn't sure why. Perhaps it had been the presence of Parvati and Dean? Whatever the case, Harry welcomed the change.

"And I'm going to take care of him, because, well, why not? You're always telling me I've got to take care of myself right?" Ginny scoffed at the pun, or joke, or whatever it could be considered.

"What about… Voldemort?" Ron asked, failing to mention the Horcruxes.

"Not as important as him, right bud?" he asked the boy.

"No, I mean, won't he just deny your story, and make people wonder?"

"I don't see Voldemort calling a press conference, Ron," Harry said with a smirk. "Oh and, I'll be back to Hogwarts this year… I guess it's for the best. But, we'll talk later. For now let's go quick before anyone gets suspicious, and do not tell anyone."

After the confession to Ginny and Ron, the rest of the time was relatively peaceful, Ron and the younger Harry went out flying— the elder Harry was nervous but knew Ron was a good flyer and thus allowed it—and Harry and Parvati and Ginny and Dean went out to watch. Ginny—after a few awkward moments— pulled Harry aside and told him that she and Dean were back together, asking if he was going to be okay with it.

He nodded slowly. In truth it hurt a bit, but he knew it was best for her. That was the reason he'd dumped her in the first place, for her to be safe and with someone safer. Dean was much safer. In turn, he broke under her quizzing him about Parvati and confessed he might, possibly, _maybe_, have a small amount of feelings for her. What a crock.

When Ron and the younger Harry got onto the ground, Harry saw the time and suggested to Parvati that he should get her back before too much longer. "Alright, thank you all, and the food was great," Parvati said to the Weasleys. Harry repeated this, and then motioned the other two over to him. Fawkes gripped his shoulder, and the younger Harry took Harry's left hand and Parvati his right at his instruction.

"Now keep your eyes opened, Parvati. It's beautiful."

**You do seem to enjoy travelling like this, I have no problem with it, and it's just funny. You humans all seem to find it amazing, but to me, it is just normal. **

With a shrill note, Fawkes took all three of them out of the Weasley household and into the world of fire. Parvati took his advice, and kept her eyes opened, but the moment she got past the beauty and understood she was flying through fire and nothing else, she tightened her grip on his hand. Harry squeezed back just as hard, and then in the fire there was a spot of relative darkness, it grew larger and larger until they reached it and appeared on the other side, in Harry's sitting room.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: blah blah, don't own Harry Potter... blah blah, my disclaimers usually reflect my mood... blah blah :-( Well, please read and enjoy, that'll make me glad.

* * *

"Wow, that was..." **She's going to even say 'Amazing,' **Fawkes sent in Dumbledore's voice."… amazing." Harry broke a smile which then bloomed into a laugh. "Harry?" 

He stopped laughing and controlled it in a smile. "Sorry," he said. "It was something Fawkes said. I uh, I hope you had fun." She smiled sweetly at him and nodded.

"I had lots, Harry," she said, her tan skin becoming just a little bit red on the cheeks.

"Me too," he replied, and she threw her arms around him quickly, very quickly, and then walked to the front door.

"I'll see you later Harry, maybe you could come by for dinner?" Harry looked to his counterpart.

"Sound like a plan?"

The boy nodded his head. "Mhmm."

"Alright then, dinner it is, what time?"

"We usually have it around four?"

Harry nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Will your parents be okay to tell about the little guy here?"

She nodded, not at all hesitant and he trusted her. He bid her goodbye and then flopped down on the couch beside his charge. "Interesting day, no?" The boy wholeheartedly agreed with the elder.

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "So, you lived with Remus and Sirius at Grimmauld place, didn't you? What was it like?" The next two hours were filled with stories from the younger years of the boy, and from his own, though they tended to be much later than the younger's as the elder's life before age eleven tended to be rather morbid.

"I don't know, Albus. I don't think it's wise to let him take care of the child." Minerva said to the portrait, drumming her fingers on the desk.

"And why not? Who better to take care of a child than someone who understands the worth of loving and being loved as much as Harry does."

"But that's just it! Does he, really? He didn't exactly have an excellent childhood himself." The portrait man nodded as if it were a fair point and leaned back into his armchair.

"Minerva, they will be fine together, I firmly believe Harry will protect the child with his life."

"I still don't know, Albus."

"I do, Minerva." She nodded somewhat absentmindedly and returned to drumming her fingers while filling out papers to accompany her letters to the ministry, in an attempt to make the boy who was currently living with the Chosen One in The Golden Lion a real, Ministry registered person, she'd get the boy his birth certificate date set to the same birth date as her own world's Harry.

When this was done she could release an official statement on the subject and officially get Harry the guardianship papers to sign, supposing he was still intent on raising the boy. She still wasn't sure how much she liked the idea.

At a quarter to four, the elder Harry stood up from the couch where they'd been sitting and stretched. "Well, how about some dinner?" The boy nodded an agreement. "Let's get over there then, we don't want to be late." Harry stood up, looked over at Fawkes who bid him to go on without him, and then moved over to the door. The boy was at his side quickly and Harry threw open the door to the daylight outside. The sitting room was poorly lit, with only the fireplace and two candles to light it, and there were no windows whatsoever.

In a flash, his charge had shot out past him, displaying to Harry, the first sign of a real happiness he had ever seen from the boy, (other than the moments he was up in the air with Ron, that is.) He was surprisingly fast for his legs being so small though, and was at the gate before Harry could catch up. _Hey, he had a head start, _Harry thought with a smirk. _He's fast though, like…. _"Alright, slow down there Hare."

"Hare?" the boy asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah, you're fast like a hare." The boy stuck his tongue out.

"Hare it is then," Harry said with a smile more than a smirk this time. He opened the front gate, and the statue to the left of it actually turned its head back and looked at them, before turning to face forward again. That was odd and yet comforting, like it was aware enough to protect the house from harm. "Come on, no running then." He took it a slow walk to the neighbouring house; it was still a little early.

By the time he reached the steps to the house, he knew "Hare" was bored by his slow leisurely pace. Harry knocked twice on the door. There was a long moment of silence before the door opened. Padma awaited him. "Hello, Harry, and Harry," she said to the boy. "Parvati's told us everything," she said, patting Hare on the head.

"They're twins, like Fred and George," Harry explained to the boy.

"Oh," he exclaimed in understanding.

"Parvati's upstairs getting ready, she wants to look _nice _for you," Padma said with a wink that was so suggestive it made Harry blush. "Come on in, our parents are in the dinning room."

Harry—at Parvati's whisper— looked up from the couch in the sitting room of the Patil household. On the far end of the couch, his young charge (who, though they didn't know it, McGonagall had finally gotten recognized as a true living being with the Ministry after several letters,) was asleep, even Harry had to admit the kid looked cute lying there and tuckered out as Parvati 'aww'ed.

"I better get him home and in bed." He reached down and took hold of the boy's arm and shook lightly. Very quietly the boy opened one eye and Harry whispered that they were going home. He tried to stand but was so groggy, Harry didn't think he'd make it home walking and thus did the only thing he could. He hoisted the boy up into his arms and smiled when he saw how even the boy's breathing had been. He really had been tired it seemed.

The whole of the family followed him to the door and Padma opened it. He thanked her quietly, and then the rest of the family in turn, and bid them all a good night. As he walked down the steps, Parvati shut the door behind him. As soon as they were sure he was out of earshot, her mother looked at her and said, "Oh, Parvati; that one is a keeper."

"A seeker, actually," Parvati rolled her eyes at her twin's pun.

Harry kicked open the front gate which shut and locked automatically behind him. Careful and trying not to wake his charge, he ascended the steps to his house, opened the door and then quietly let it shut and latch behind him. He ascended the stairs and turned left at the first door. This was Hare's room. He lay the boy down on the twin sized bed and then drew the covers up over him. Harry pat the boy on the shoulder once and smoothed the hair back from his forehead. "Goodnight Harry Potter," he whispered to the boy and then turned and left the room.

With a small smile, Harry walked down the stairs again and then locked the front door with the regular latch. Then he turned into the sitting room, where Fawkes sat on his perch. **Welcome back, hatchling. **

_**Hello Fawkes, how are you? **_

**A bit tired, it's been a long day. **

_**Where would you like the perch, here? My room? Your own? **_

**I enjoy being close to my masters as often as I can. **

_**My room it is. No, our room.**_

Harry grinned and lifted the perch. With the slight glow from Fawkes, he walked around the sitting room and blew out all the candles and put out the fire. After a few minutes he climbed the stairs in relative darkness, crept into the master bedroom and waved his wand, lighting the two candles in the room. He set the perch down on the table beside the bed where one of the candles were. Slowly he sunk down onto the bed and stripped off his shirt and pants. He pulled on his pyjama pants from the trunks and then lay down, pulling the covers up around him. He reached up and pulled off his glasses, folded them and sat them down beside the perch. With a final stroke of Fawkes' feathers (who stuck his head beneath his wing, obviously welcoming sleep,) he whispered aloud, "goodnight, and thank you."

Thoroughly exhausted, Harry collapsed back into the pillow and wasn't long for sleep himself.


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Parvati was already up, relaxing with a book in the sitting room when there came a very loud crash from the house next door. Even though it had a very strong silencing charm on it, some sounds could still puncture the spell, and were the prior resident of the house still living there, she would not have reacted at all. This wasn't Dumbledore's house anymore though, it was Harry's. It sounded like an explosion had just gone off in the house. A large one.

She jumped up and ran to the door, wand in hand.

Moments ago.

A loud, spine-chilling scream rang out from downstairs, and Harry was awake so fast that he practically leapt out of bed. Fawkes had awoken at that exact moment to, and with a brush of his wing had knocked Harry's wand and glasses into his hand. Harry threw his glasses on and drew his wand, fleetingly his mind flew to his new charge, and he wondered if the boy was the source.

It sure didn't sound like him. A loud female voice cursed from downstairs, and a male voice followed, but they were muffled by the silencing charm Harry assumed Dumbledore had placed on the downstairs area of the home prior to his passing. Somehow, it seemed a pair of Death Eaters had gotten into his new home, and there was no way he was going to let that go. Harry, with Fawkes on his shoulder, took four steps in a single step as he made his way down the stairs. Three forms outlined by firelight in the otherwise dark room, one very short. Harry's first thought was that two Death Eaters had gotten their hands on Hare. That wouldn't do at all. With a loud cry, he hurled a _Reducto _toward the nearest of the bigger forms. The form threw up a very bad shield very quickly, and the result was almost an explosion as the Reducto fell apart and began hitting different things in that area of the house, Harry himself.

There was cursing again, but Harry couldn't even focus on the voices, his head was hurting so badly from the fall. Fawkes hovered over him, trying to send words of comfort, but he couldn't focus. He had to save Hare. It took a full minute for him to sit back up. As he did, the front door to his house was slammed on heavily. "Harry, it's me!" He flung his wand out, and the door opened. Parvati stumbled in, looking worried.

"Death Eaters… have… the kid…" he stuttered out, pointing toward the forms, one of which was climbing to their feet. To his gratitude, Parvati didn't ask any more questions but charged right into the room, casting a _Reducto _of her own. Voices were still muffled, but it only took a few seconds before silence reigned over the room. Then all at once his sight and hearing came back into focus as his head cleared. On the steps near where he was laying stood his charge.

"If, you're there, then who…" he climbed shakily to his feet and then the candles in the sitting room flared to life. Parvati had been quickly captured physically by one of the supposed attackers. Ronald Weasley had Parvati's wand armed trapped between he and the wall, Ginny Weasley and (_Oh no,_ Harry thought) Dobby were on the ground behind the couch, and Kreacher was standing in a corner, hurling insults.

"Kreacher, shut up," Harry called, and once more found that this worked and was obeyed. "I'm sorry, is everyone alright?" Ron released Parvati, and began apologizing profusely, while Dobby let Ginny up. _He must have been using some sort of spell,_ Harry assumed. It was well known house elves had their own brand of magic, and Dobby was very proficient in it.

"We're all okay, but that _Reducto _hurt even with the shield," Ron said, rubbing a spot on his arm.

"You're telling me," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his head and coming away with blood.

"Oh, Harry, are you alright?" Parvati asked, suddenly, rushing to his side.

"I'm fine, thanks for rushing over here, I guess we broke through Dumbledore's enchantments…." The girl didn't take this for an answer, and ordered him to turn around and show her the wound. This he did. She inspected it for a moment, Harry wincing as her hand touched it.

"_Episkey_," she said, and Harry felt the wound heal over much as his broken nose had when Tonks had used the spell on him before his sixth year. "There, is that better?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said, turning back around. He was still slightly dizzy and thus not totally shocked when he fell flat on his butt. "Ugh, well, my head's better anyway. What was this all about?" he asked Ron.

"We didn't mean to cause trouble, we just wanted to surprise you, and we brought Dobby and Kreacher over via floo." Harry looked at the two house elves; Dobby was smiling back down at him, whereas Kreacher looked as if he plainly wished to kill him. This too brought him worry for the boy sitting on the stairs near him.

"There's something I've got to clear up, if Kreacher is going to be living with us. This boy here is your master too. I'm his guardian, and in a way he is me. If I find out you've done anything to hurt him, it's a memory charm, clothes and I'm sending you to the Ministry for them to deal with you." Harry looked at the look on Parvati's face. "Don't feel too sorry for him, this is the thing who tricked me into thinking Sirius was at the Department of Mysteries, which is why I went there, and why he came to save me, and ultimately why he died."

He glared down at Kreacher, looking almost murderous. This look was being given back completely by the house elf in turn. "Harry mate, calm down," Ron advised. Harry found that he was actually astoundingly calm. "Look, we came to get you two, Mum said to bring you over for breakfast, and Parvati too, if she wanted."

"And since you're here," Ginny lead, "you might as well join us, right?" Harry was, despite all of his other issues at the moment, happy to hear no trace of dislike in Ginny's voice, meaning the two would not be at odds. This gave him a very good bit of happiness. Fawkes mentally prodded him to get up from the ground. "And we brought these for the, err, little Harry." Ginny offered a pair of pants and a shirt about the right size, perhaps just a bit bigger.

"I'm Hare now," the boy infirmed her, with a grin.

"I see," she said laughing.

"Alright then, go get changed," Harry said, motioning upstairs and handing the boy the clothes.

"You too," Parvati said, patting his bare chest. This brought his sense of meekness back and he realized he was standing shirtless in front of Parvati, in only a pair of pyjama pants. He tried his best not to turn red before moving rather quickly up the stairs. He dug through his trunk and pulled out an oversized shirt and a pair of oversized jeans. Again he was a bit angry about him still wearing this clothing, but then it hit him that his new charge had no other clothes than what he was wearing last night and what Ginny had just brought.

"Well," he said when he hit the bottom step. He froze for a second, when he saw Parvati. She'd changed very quickly into muggle clothing, a light blue shirt that clearly accented her figure and sported the saying, 'save a broom ride a wizard.' He coughed, looked away and then spoke.

"I've got to get to Diagon Alley, get my money, get a new pair of robes and whatever shirts and pants they have for myself and Hare, and then go into muggle London and buy a lot of muggle clothing for us both too. I'm one wearing Dudley's hand-me-downs. Been doing it my whole life, rather have clothes that fit." He frowned slightly. "Perhaps I'm being rather selfish right now, I've been used to it for so many years, why should it suddenly matter now?"

"Harry," Parvati said, folding her arms across her chest in a slightly intimidating manner. "You shouldn't have to live in hand-me-downs. You deserve it." This brought a grin to his face and he could tell that the two Weasleys agreed completely.

"Thanks."

"May Dobby come with Harry Potter, sir?"

"Sure, but only in Diagon Alley, we'll have to go into Muggle London alone." Dobby nodded. "Why?"

"Dobby has not left Hogwarts in some time, he wishes for some fresh air." Harry gave a smile.

"Alright then, its settled." At that point, Hare returned and descended the stairs where everyone was waiting. "Breakfast and then shopping we'll meet in Gringotts in about three hours, alright Dobby?" The house elf nodded. "And when we get back, I'll set up a bedroom for you two, we have guest rooms upstairs. Until then, have fun."

Harry made his way to the fireplace, ready to floo to the burrow when a tapping on the window made him turn his head. He walked over to it and threw it open, allowing Hedwig into the house. "I wondered when you'd find your way here girl, your cage is upstairs in my room."

_**Are you coming, Fawkes? **_

**Perhaps it is best if you're not seen with your Headmaster's pet Phoenix in public yet. Give the papers time to stop writing about him. **

_**I understand. What do I get you to eat? **_

**I am capable of feeding myself, as the time draws near for me to need substance I will have to disappear on you and find my own food . **

_**Alright, we've got to get substance now. **_

"Alright, goodbye then Dobby, Hedwig, Fawkes… Kreacher, stay out of trouble." Harry threw some floo powder into the fireplace, and the signature emerald flames rose. Ron and Ginny went first, then Parvati, and the Harrys. There was a slightly smaller crowd awaiting them around the table when they'd dusted the soot from their clothes. Ron and Ginny, Fred and George, Bill, and Fleur and Mrs. Weasley waited. It seemed Mr. Weasley was at work.

"Good morning," he said, setting down at the table where three empty seats had been reserved for them.

Ginny, staring at him, noticed that his eyes suddenly clouded over, and he stared ahead for a moment, as if looking into space. "Harry?" Parvati asked. He shook his head.

"Sorry," he said as Parvati sat on his left next to Fleur and Hare on his right by Fred. "I just… I remembered the first time I came her is all," Harry said with a grin. "It's been a long time."

"Five years, Harry," Ron said with an exasperated tone. "It's not like it's been a century."

"Feels like it," Harry replied. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling very morose, but as suddenly as it came; it went just as suddenly when he felt Parvati's hand in his. He immediately became nervous, but tried his best not to show it. After a few moments of the silence, he became calm as she rubbed her thumb over the top of his hand. "Well, thanks for breakfast, this really smells good." They dug in after a round of greetings, Harry's left hand still in Parvati's right as they ate.

He was in no hurry to say no to that. There was idle banter as per usual, and Harry found he couldn't focus on it. Now that he was calming down his mind was going wild thinking about the other six worlds out there, the homes he had inherited, about his past with Dumbledore and Sirius and Remus. It was all kind of coming on him too fast. The first thing he wanted to do was try to communicate with someone from one of the other worlds.

And again breakfast passed at the Weasleys. But ever since that thought of communicating with the others, he couldn't help but thing that he had missed a very crucial detail. Something very important.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry and Ginny waited after breakfast for Parvati to finish helping with the dishes and for Ron to get the Chudley cannons' book he was loaning to Hare. Though it probably didn't take too long, Harry had to admit he was getting restless and wanted to go. It would be his first time shopping for something other than school supplies. He'd need a new set of robes, and then lots of new clothes. Then he'd have to go and buy a full wardrobe for Hare, the poor kid had next to nothing to work with.

"Alright Dobby should be meeting us at Gringotts, so let's get to Diagon Alley as quick as possible." Harry motioned Ginny and Parvati in before him, and watched as they flooed off. With Hare in the lead he stepped into the fire and—feeling mischievous—cried "Diagonally." He gave a smirk to Mrs. Weasley as it hit her what he'd just said, and what had happened the last time. HE grabbed hold of the boy's hand as the spinning began. He had no idea where he'd come out, but it didn't really matter.

As they slid out of the fireplace much like he had many years ago, Harry was laughing. When he looked up, they were surely in the same place he had come out with last time he'd misspoken the name of Diagon Alley. Borgin and Burkes. "Alright there, Hare?" he asked the boy. An irritable looking shopkeeper was looking over at them with a glare, and Harry waved at him.

"Cool! What happened?" the boy asked as Harry knocked a bit of soot from his back. Harry only laughed, then apologized profusely—and utterly unconvincingly—before grabbing the boy's hand.

"We're in Knockturn Alley, by the way," he said, laughing. "Don't ever come here again, kay?" His laughter grew louder as he saw the many faces glaring at him. He climbed the steps and found himself in Diagon Alley. Standing outside the magical entrance of The Leakey Cauldron, Ginny and Parvati spotted them and rushed down the street to them.

"Harry what happened?" Parvati asked.

"You didn't," Ginny said, sounding shocked and a bit too much like Hermione. "Oh, you did." Harry continued laughing rather madly. He was definitely having mood swings, Parvati noted. "Before my first year, Harry said Diagon Alley wrong when he left from in the floo from my house, and ended up in Borgin and Burkes. I can only assume it was an accident this time too!"

"Nope! I wanted a bit of a thrill ride," Harry admitted. "Besides, we're both fine, right Hare?"

"Yeah, it was fun!" While Ginny shook her head Parvati noticed his messy clothing.

"That old fireplace of his kind of throws you out of it, you end up sliding on the floor." Parvati sighed, rolled her eyes and then matched gaze with Ginny.

"Boys," they said together. This made Harry laugh again.

After getting himself looking a bit more presentable, Harry lead the group down the alley to Gringotts, careful to hide the identity of his charge by keeping him from being seen by an approaching person. And sure enough when he got into the main foyer of Gringott's, Dobby was standing there awaiting their arrival. Without saying anything, Dobby snapped his fingers, and both of the Harrys found their clothes clean. There were several wizards giving the clothed Dobby a glare that clearly suggested they thought he was a degenerate.

"Well, come on then, let's go down to the vaults." He move3d over to the cart, and gave his vault number, but instead of motioning them into the cart, the Goblin looked at a scroll of paper in his pocket and held up his hand.

"That vault is no longer in use. Mr. Potter, your vault has by order of Albus Dumbledore, been consolidated with the full contents of your parents and your Godfather's vault in his own vault, as per his final wishes. You also have inherited the contents of his vault, including a couple of interesting objects. You may give me that key as your new vault does not require a key but a password and your own voice and wand to open it. The specs for your wand were given to us by Mr. Alexander, and the vault is waiting for you. Everyone into the cart."

Harry raised an eyebrow to the others, but none of them were any more informed than he, so he merely obeyed the man's command. "Vault number three." Harry wondered if their lower number suggested anything about security, since it was supposed to be so strong. He held onto his new charge as the cart took off, perhaps a little bit faster than it should have. This Goblin must have been a thrill seeker himself. Harry laughed loudly as they made a very sharp turn at a very high-speed and wondered vaguely if he shouldn't find a muggle amusement park to go to sometime. Those rollercoasters sounded fun.

They went farther down than Harry had ever before been, so low that he felt a small sense of nerves as he became aware of the several million pounds of ground above his head and became equally thankful for Wizarding architects being able to use magic. Just as suddenly as they had started, the cart halted, throwing him out of the back, and onto the ground behind them. He shook his head wearily when he climbed back to his feet. "I'm alright," he announced with a bit of a goofy grin.

"For Merlin's sake, Harry get up here."

"Bossy, bossy," Harry replied, sticking his tongue out at Ginny. "You're sounding like your mum when she's chewing out Gred and Forge." With a smirk he leapt from the ground onto the cart, rocking it. The driver suddenly cleared his throat from over at the vault door. Okay, so maybe he was one of those no-nonsense Goblins after all. Harry walked up to the vault door.

"Alright, sir, your password is," he leaned forward and whispered. Harry pulled back with a soft smile. That was vintage Dumbledore.

"Lemon drop." There came a loud click as a lock came unlatched in the door's mechanical workings. A panel opened up on the door, about the right size for his wand. He reached into his pocket and drew it. Then he slowly came up and placed it into the hole. There was a series of clicking, and then a louder one, signalling that another lock had been bypassed.

Finally, he was given back his wand and the door opened outward, revealing to him the contents. Harry's breath hitched at the sight. Mountains of galleons and sickles shined from inside the vault. He reached out and grabbed a handful, then shoved it into his bag. Then another, and another and another. He had a lot of purchases to make today. He shut the door to the vault without another look around at the contents, and heard the two clicks signifying that the locks had been engaged.

He leapt back into the cart and when the driver had returned he looked at the Goblin. "Any chance I can convince you to let me drive that?"

"No," Parvati and Ginny exclaimed in unison, both pulling him down into the empty space between them.

"Sorry about him, he's being a big kid today." Harry stuck out his tongue, and turned red a moment later when Parvati caught it in between her thumb and pointer finger. "Now what're you going to do?" she asked with a giggle at his indignity. When she released it, the driver started the vehicle and took them back above ground, somewhat slower than before.

"Looks like you've got my tongue this time," he said with a grin. "No cat here."

"I'd like to have it more often," Parvati said suddenly, in a voice that made Harry turn even more red. She leaned forward, and that was apparently his signal to do the same. As their lips met Harry felt his heart beat increase and Ginny made a very audible gagging sound, and Hare laughed. "So, does that mean yes?" she asked when they broke for air.

"It's all yours," he said.

"So are you."

"Alright, keep it G rated, okay?" Ginny asked. "We've got a kid onboard after all." Harry was reminded of the bumper stickers on muggle cars almost immediately. He smiled a bit as he placed a somewhat less passionate kiss on her cheek, and took her hand in his right. She began the same motion of rubbing her thumb over his hand like she had at the Burrow, but then stopped and whispered to him.

"Will you tell me about it?"

"About what?" he asked, a bit nervous at her closeness to him still.

"'I must not tell lies.'" He winced at the reminder of the painful memory and looked down at his hand where he could see the scars forming the words I Must Not Tell Lies.

"Some other time, I want to not think about that for a while, alright, Parvati?" She nodded and drew his arm up over her shoulder, before snuggling closer to him.

"It's alright, Harry," she whispered in his ear. "You're alright now." She could tell he had been really depressed at the table that morning. "You're fine." He smiled at her, and felt himself growing relaxed as her head rested in the crook of his neck. The cart pulled to a stop after a few more minutes, and the four got off.

"You know," Ginny said. "I think you lot will be fine without me, I'm going to go on home." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable, Gin."

"No, no it's not that. I think you two make a cute couple and with Hare and Dobby you look like a family." Harry turned a little red. "See, and you think so too." Harry smiled now, despite the blush. He bid her goodbye as she moved toward one of the many fireplaces. When she was gone, he looked at Parvati.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Don't own it**_

* * *

"Well, you two have shopping to do, right? I'm coming too, you can't get rid of me easily." She winked and pecked him on the cheek, bringing a smile. Hare on the other hand imitated the gagging noise Ginny had made earlier. With Dobby in the lead, the four of them made their way out of Gringott's and to Madam Malkin's robe shop. 

"How about this? You get your robes done, and I'll take him over to the clothes shop, and we'll start shopping and you meet us there. Sound like a plan?" Harry looked at the boy.

"Can you handle it when someone inevitably spots the scar and screams in shock?" Hare looked up at him.

"Yes," Parvati said. "We'll just tell them we can't talk about it, right?"

"If you want to tell them the truth, that's alright too." Or at least what you think the truth is, he thought. Perhaps I should tell her. "Look… what I told you about his past… I wasn't being entirely truthful." He motioned her into a small gap between Madam Malkin's and the shop nearby, and she looked up at him, worriedly.

"I didn't think I should tell you at the time, had to keep him safe you know. You really, really, really, can't talk about this to anyone but McGonagall, Ginny, Ron and Lupin. They're the only ones who know." He looked down at Hare with a fond smile. "He is me… from another universe." She raised an eyebrow.

"The clone thing is weird enough, Harry, but that?"

"It's true, Dumbledore had communications with other worlds, and he is from one of the others. He's already beaten Voldemort, when he was four. But his Dumbledore was killed by Snape and Draco Malfoy's father." He looked down at the boy, who was greatly saddened at this reminder. "So, the thing I told you was the story McGonagall came up with. We've got to stick with it. If you get cornered by anyone demanding to know about him, tell them to come talk to me here." Parvati nodded after a moment.

"And so, he was sent to live with you?"

"No, he was sent to live with our Dumbledore, but he's dead too. I wonder if Dumbledore died in all the other worlds after he found out about the other universes… I don't know though." Parvati nodded again, and Harry took a moment to be captivated by her utter beauty.

"You're strange sometimes Harry," she said with a smile.

"I know," he replied as broke eye contact with her.

Feeling considerably relaxed by her reaction, he entered Madam Malkin's. After a few moments of waiting for other customers to be finished, Madam Malkin took the time to measure him out, and then found two pairs of robes, one for school, and one for general usage in the Wizarding World. As he was putting down the money on the counter, he was not at all shocked to find the door opening, and a very large amount of people, laden with cameras and notepads spilling in. He knew Parvati and Hare would be spotted in the clothes shop, there were far too many people here. A series of questions were hurled in his direction, and he couldn't focus on any one of them long enough to try and answer.

He heard Parvati's name, his own, and the phrase 'the young look-alike.' So they'd definitely met the two in the store, or been tipped of by someone who had. "If you want any questions answered," he started, a bit miffed. "Then shut up and do this in an organized manner." Harry must have commanded a degree of respect for silence descended over the shop.

"First, you," he said, pointing to a reporter standing with a man he knew to be Rita Skeeter's old photographer, who snapped a picture as she spoke.

"Parvati Patil was seen in the shop across the street with a boy who looks identical to you, except for age. He even has a scar to match yours, who is the boy?"

"I don't know how common of an idea it is in the Wizarding World, in the muggle world, there's a theory that you can make a copy of a living being, a clone, with their DNA. During a fight with Death Eater Severus Snape after his murder of my Headmaster, I got a large quantity of my blood on his robes. It is my belief he used this to create a clone of me. Using an aging potion, he aged the child to about age six, and began training him to kill me. As punishment for a misdeed I believe, he scarred the boy in a way identical to mine, heck, he even called the kid Harry Potter." The crowd seemed to be following him and writing everything down, so it was time to lay it on really thick.

"He was rescued from a group of Death Eaters by a small group of unknown people, I assume it could be the famous Order of the Phoenix, I saw in the Daily Prophet that people think they're back, I don't know. I have since taken to caring for the kid, I'm not yet legally his guardian, but I'm not sure he's even legally considered alive by the Ministry, so there's no real trouble there. Next?" He pointed at someone who had no pad whatsoever, and actually looked more like a curious civilian. As he did, he saw Dobby disappear in a smoky haze out of the corner of his eye, presumably to go home.

"Is it true you've moved into your Headmaster's old home?"

"Yes, and I'd like to know your sources for that one," he said with a grin. The mood was lightening. "Next."

"That's next to the Patil household, according to the Ministry's records, is there a relationship between you and Ms. Patil?" Harry smirked. Normally he would have turned red here, but he knew he had the upper hand on all of these people. Besides, why keep it a secret.

"If I did, would I tell you? I think that if we hypothetically had a relationship it would be hypothetically our business and hypothetically you could quote me as saying that it was our business in your next hypothetical article on me. Now, anything else?" The reporter gave him a grin, catching his drift. So, maybe not all reporters were scum.

"Yes, I have one," came a voice from the back. It was hidden though, and entirely too familiar. "Can we go now?"

Harry stood on his tiptoes, and saw Parvati standing in the doorway with his younger counterpart. "Everyone, meeting over, my hypothetical girlfriend and my new friend and I have shopping to do." A general chuckle met the crowd. He broke through the dispersing crowd on reporters, and moved out into the street.

"Come on, we have a bunch of clothes waiting to be bought," Parvati said. "I've even picked out a few shirts that would look good on you."

"Oh joy," he said sarcastically. "That mess with reporters was far too predictable, I'm getting to know them." He shuddered dramatically as they walked into the shop across the street, the bag of Harry's robes shrunken and in his pocket. Sure enough, the purchase counter was piled with a wardrobe of things for Hare, and a few t-shirts that were his size.

"Can you keep those until we're done?" Parvati asked the man behind the counter, fluttering her eyebrows ever so slightly.

"Sure thing," the man replied, winking.

Harry only smirked. What followed was a very interesting two hours of shopping, where he was eventually badgered by Parvati into trying on many different shirts, including one she claimed 'accented his eyes.' _I'll note_, Harry thought as he sat down the money on the counter, _that I'm actually buying said shirt_. She laughed when he wondered aloud how long it would be before she was making more decisions for him.

His money bag still a little lighter, he shrunk four bags of clothing (two for he, and two for Hare) and pocketed them. "You two go on to the Leaky Cauldron. I've got to deal with something and then I'll be right there." After a quick kiss on the cheek, Parvati led Hare away, a small crowd of people watching them. Harry walked away from the shop and moved on to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Once there, he looked over the many choices. There was a black owl with green eyes, which made Harry laugh ironically, among several other hearty, strong looking candidates, but Harry chose a very proud looking eagle owl. After he had paid for it and gotten it into its cage, he rushed down the street to the ice cream parlour. He bought three, and though it was stressful, balanced three ice creams and the cage.

He nodded to Tom as he entered the Leaky Cauldron and hid the owl behind his back. Parvati and Hare were at a table in the back of the room near the fireplace they would soon be using to get home. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Harry asked, and held out his right hand, holding one ice cream with two others floating along side it. Hare accepted it with a smile, and Parvati took the one to the right of his hand. He reached with his hand and grabbed the one to the left. Before he even touched it though, he smiled.

"Alright, so, it's a bit late, but Happy Birthday, Hare." He brought the cage from around behind him and sat it on the table in front of the boy.

"Wow," Hare exclaimed. "Th-thank you!"

"It's no problem, you know, I got Hedwig when I was eleven, it was my first real birthday gift. You'll like having an owl around soon enough, they tend to be good friends." Though each of the Harrys was smiling, Parvati was looking at him in an odd way. He continued anyway. "Be thinking of a name for him."


End file.
